In Ahmedabad we stopped at a very nice stepwell with lots of stone carvings and then visited the mausoleums of some Sufi Saints from the 1400's- 1500's - before the Mughal Empire formed in India. Jim then checked into the House of MG where we had stayed two times in 2010. The place was the home of an industrialist in the colonial era and converted to a nice hotel. It changed quite a bit since 2010 with the addition of a large wing and courtyard and much more formal lobby and desk than before. Jim's room was downstairs and quite large with a sitting room next to the bedroom. It was well decorated with textiles. However, it was a little creepy because there was really only one way out of the room- through the main door. In case of a bad fire or other catastrophe it could be bad, but such events are rare so he did not lose much sleep over it!
The hotel has a pleasant outdoor sitting area that serves fairly simple food from 7AM to 10PM or so and it was a good place to get meals.
On Monday Nov. 20 we visited a used textile dealer. While there Jim realized we had been there in 2010 with Chota. They have 3 floors full of all sorts of textiles from across India and elsewhere. Many are in only fair condition but many are also in very good condition.
We visited two more very nice stepwells including a famous one in or very near the city limit- Adalaj Ki Vav built in 1498.
We also visited the Art Book Center in Ahmedabad- this is a well known shop run by father and Son. We went there both times we were in Ahmedabad in 2010 and bought books mostly on textiles but some on other art topics.
Jonny knows a Kalamkari artist in Ahmedabad so we went to visit his home/studio. Kalamkari is a fairly complex process for decorating textiles and takes a lot of skill to do well. The fellow here learned it from his father who had won a national award. The son has also won an award. Jim bought two of his works which seemed of high quality.
On Tuesday we visited an enormous antiques warehouse. It was full of doors and columns and other carved wood work removed from old homes and palaces. There were all sorts of glass pieces and wood sculptures too- much coverd with lots of dust. There were crews of men and women working on sanding and repairing and repainting old wood. It was fascinating too see but hard to grasp it all. Apparently, some overseas dealers come here to buy containers full of stuff to ship to other parts of the world. Jonny told of a couple who bought an old place in Goa who put deposits on some old doors that were around 10 feet tall.
Chota left us in the afternoon to catch a train home and Jim went back to the hotel to pack bags and relax. An attempt to sleep was not very productive. Jonny picked him up around 1AM to go to the Ahmedabad Airport. The security arrangements at some airports seem strange- but it may keep people planning bad things off guard and unprepared but it is also confusing. But Jim got through.
Jim's original plan was to fly to New Delhi and then home from there- airing home on Thanksgiving Day, but Janet was not feeling well after her trip to Japan and news reports from Delhi about the pollution levels were bad so Jim canceled his flight to Delhi and was able to change his return flight to leave from Ahmedabad instead of New Delhi. There departure time was similar to from Delhi and the layover on Etihad in Abu Dhabi was a few hours, so the fact that the flight from Ahmedabad was a half hour late or so was no problem.
In Abu Dhabi Jim was able to go through US immigration and customs, which was nice to have done. The plane to JFK was an Airbus 380 and business class seats on the upper deck were very comfortable! It was about 14 hour flight to JFK . Jim slept a little and ate only a little and watched some movies and other small entertainments for the long flight.
At JFK the luggage came out fairly fast, but the car to take him home had not yet reached the airport so he had to wait about 20 min. or so. He had not taken a warm jacket- not needed in India, so he stayed inside as long as possible at JFK.
It was close to rush hour in New York, but we managed to get out of the city before traffic got bad there, buit it was heavy in Westchester county. Jim was wide awake until it got dark outside- them he got very sleepy and slept awhile in the car. He awoke at one point to see a SUV or pickup truck Completely engulfed in fire on the opposite side of the highway! There were no fire trucks there so it must have happened very fast. It appeared to be just the one vehicle.
Jim arrived home exhausted from lack of sleep over the past 24+ hours and fell into bed after saying hello to Janet and Ziggy and Zoe!
Because he came home a day or two early he was able enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with friends despite being in the completely wrong time zone. That was fun but exhausting.
After about 3 weeks of getting up and sleeping at all sorts of times Jim finally felt more or less adjusted to the local time... and climate... but the cold of winter and short days are getting harder to tolerate. Jim has been working on editing his pictures and picking a few to post and to print. This has taken a long time for two reasons- there are a lot of pictures and the storage on the computer is not enough to have them all on at one time! So, it is being done in stages. This is why there are no pictures at the time this is being written.
Overall, it was a fabulous trip- the MET group was great to be with- so many bright and interesting people- and the opportunity to travel around Gujarat and see many new places and see lots of wonderful textiles was terrific too. Having such good company and our friend Chota and great guides in Salim and Jonny made it extra special.
We visited two more very nice stepwells including a famous one in or very near the city limit- Adalaj Ki Vav built in 1498.
We also visited the Art Book Center in Ahmedabad- this is a well known shop run by father and Son. We went there both times we were in Ahmedabad in 2010 and bought books mostly on textiles but some on other art topics.
Jonny knows a Kalamkari artist in Ahmedabad so we went to visit his home/studio. Kalamkari is a fairly complex process for decorating textiles and takes a lot of skill to do well. The fellow here learned it from his father who had won a national award. The son has also won an award. Jim bought two of his works which seemed of high quality.
On Tuesday we visited an enormous antiques warehouse. It was full of doors and columns and other carved wood work removed from old homes and palaces. There were all sorts of glass pieces and wood sculptures too- much coverd with lots of dust. There were crews of men and women working on sanding and repairing and repainting old wood. It was fascinating too see but hard to grasp it all. Apparently, some overseas dealers come here to buy containers full of stuff to ship to other parts of the world. Jonny told of a couple who bought an old place in Goa who put deposits on some old doors that were around 10 feet tall.
Jim's original plan was to fly to New Delhi and then home from there- airing home on Thanksgiving Day, but Janet was not feeling well after her trip to Japan and news reports from Delhi about the pollution levels were bad so Jim canceled his flight to Delhi and was able to change his return flight to leave from Ahmedabad instead of New Delhi. There departure time was similar to from Delhi and the layover on Etihad in Abu Dhabi was a few hours, so the fact that the flight from Ahmedabad was a half hour late or so was no problem.
In Abu Dhabi Jim was able to go through US immigration and customs, which was nice to have done. The plane to JFK was an Airbus 380 and business class seats on the upper deck were very comfortable! It was about 14 hour flight to JFK . Jim slept a little and ate only a little and watched some movies and other small entertainments for the long flight.
At JFK the luggage came out fairly fast, but the car to take him home had not yet reached the airport so he had to wait about 20 min. or so. He had not taken a warm jacket- not needed in India, so he stayed inside as long as possible at JFK.
It was close to rush hour in New York, but we managed to get out of the city before traffic got bad there, buit it was heavy in Westchester county. Jim was wide awake until it got dark outside- them he got very sleepy and slept awhile in the car. He awoke at one point to see a SUV or pickup truck Completely engulfed in fire on the opposite side of the highway! There were no fire trucks there so it must have happened very fast. It appeared to be just the one vehicle.
Jim arrived home exhausted from lack of sleep over the past 24+ hours and fell into bed after saying hello to Janet and Ziggy and Zoe!
Because he came home a day or two early he was able enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with friends despite being in the completely wrong time zone. That was fun but exhausting.
After about 3 weeks of getting up and sleeping at all sorts of times Jim finally felt more or less adjusted to the local time... and climate... but the cold of winter and short days are getting harder to tolerate. Jim has been working on editing his pictures and picking a few to post and to print. This has taken a long time for two reasons- there are a lot of pictures and the storage on the computer is not enough to have them all on at one time! So, it is being done in stages. This is why there are no pictures at the time this is being written.
Overall, it was a fabulous trip- the MET group was great to be with- so many bright and interesting people- and the opportunity to travel around Gujarat and see many new places and see lots of wonderful textiles was terrific too. Having such good company and our friend Chota and great guides in Salim and Jonny made it extra special.
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